UK Public Sector Contracts & Tenders

THIS IS A CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) requirement for Cyber Security Assessment and Cyber Enhancement services is being fulfilled by Pen Test Partners LLP. Cyber Security Assessment and Enhancement services are crucial for proactively identifying vulnerabilities, mitigating increasingly sophisticated AI driven threats, and strengthening organisational resilience. This is a call off Contract award under Crown Commercial Services G-Cloud 14 Framework Agreement RM1557.14 Initial term: 12 months, with one optional 12 month extension as permitted under G Cloud 14 (Lot 3). Total potential duration: up to 24 months.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) regulates auditors, accountants and actuaries and sets the UK's Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes. As the Competent Authority for audit in the UK, we set auditing and ethical standards and monitor and enforce audit quality. The purpose of the FRC is to serve the public interest and support UK economic growth by upholding high standards of corporate governance, corporate reporting, audit and actuarial work. Our people are our strength, and we have been working over several years to improve our culture, diversity and approach to leadership development. We require Leadership Development Training Services (specifically, for those in senior leader roles whether established, new recruited or newly promoted). We intend to have an additional supplier(s) for a structured programme of leadership development so that our senior leaders can engage with leaders at a similar job level/grade across other sectors and have the option to undertake this type of training in a residential as well as online setting. We have identified the need to appoint a preferred supplier(s) to facilitate the training needs of senior leaders within our organisation on a 'needs when' basis. Whether this be for established FRC leaders, those recruited into senior roles or those internally promoted into senior leadership roles. The aim of the leadership development is for the FRC delegate to develop and enhance skills which will enable them to lead in times of uncertainty and ambiguity and ensure organisational agility in an ever-evolving financial landscape. The programme should be: - • Established with a track record of successful learning outcomes • Experience of designing and delivering leadership programmes across the public, regulatory and financial services sectors • Commitment to cross sector diversity • Applicable for all leaders at senior level • Referencing to the importance and impact of good practice around Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DE&I) • Relevant and Focused (on key leadership challenges and skills), not necessarily sector specific • Developing skills including, but not limited to, effective communication, creating high performing teams, critical thinking, problem solving and decision making, strategic planning and execution, personal influence, digital savviness and future proofing. • Open/public cohorts to enable cross sector/organisation interactions (i.e. not just FRC delegates) • Option of different delivery methods, face to face / online / residential with mixed delegate groups. (i.e. not just FRC delegates) • Proportionate in terms of length / time commitment. 9 months maximum • Cost effective • Create a safe space on the programme for delegates to share leadership challenges • Provides a structure to enable delegates to embed learning/action planning • Provides opportunity to hear from very senior leaders across a range of sectors about leadership • Provides a mechanism to build and develop networks after conclusion of the programme and keep in touch with provider

With effect from 1st October 2023, The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) existing relationship with ACS Systems UK Limited for the provision of IT Managed Services will novate to Bechtle Limited. The FRC will commence the activities to re-procure the provision. It is anticipated that the re-procurement will be via a suitable Crown Commercial Services framework agreement. This notice reflect a supplier change due to acquisition (of the existing supplier).

The FRC wished to complete a 2025 stakeholder perceptions survey (utilising the Crown Commercial Services Research and Insights framework RM6126) in order to: • Obtain independent research designed to measure external stakeholders' awareness and perceptions / changing perceptions of the FRC, our reputation as a regulator, and the effectiveness of our communications channels and content/key publications • Comparison of findings with last research carried out in 2022 and reset baseline to measure FRC reputation and stakeholder perceptions going forward. The expectation is the successful provider will: • be able to demonstrate key transferrable experience and skill including undertaking follow on Stakeholder perceptions surveys that they did not initially conduct • Undertake a mix of quantitative and qualitative research into the perceptions of key stakeholders/stakeholder groups • Produce a full report in presentation format/agency to present to ExCo/Board, summary version for external presentation and bank of key testimonials The FRC undertook mini competition under the Research and Insights framework RM6126 which resulted in the award to this Supplier.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) regulates auditors, accountants and actuaries and sets the UK's Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes. As the Competent Authority for audit in the UK, we set auditing and ethical standards and monitor and enforce audit quality. The purpose of the FRC is to serve the public interest and support UK economic growth by upholding high standards of corporate governance, corporate reporting, audit and actuarial work. Companies are using artificial intelligence (AI) and other disruptive technologies within their business operations. However, there is currently a limited understanding of, and evidence on, their use of AI and other disruptive technologies in the production of narrative/financial information in corporate reports ('corporate reporting'). The FRC is seeking research services into the use of artificial intelligence and other disruptive technologies in corporate reporting. This research project will gather evidence about the use of AI and other disruptive technologies in corporate reporting to inform FRC regulatory practice and policy. The research project will answer the following research questions: (1). What specific AI and other disruptive technologies are most commonly used in corporate reporting, and how are they being used? (2). How is the use of AI and other disruptive technologies in corporate reporting influencing changes to governance and audit processes? (3). How do companies believe their stakeholders perceive the reliability and transparency of corporate reports prepared with the use of AI? The research population will be companies that meet the UK Public Interest Entity (PIE) definition, i.e. those with transferable securities listed on a UK-regulated market, credit institutions, and insurance undertakings, and their finance and corporate reporting teams.

THIS IS A CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) regulates auditors, accountants and actuaries and sets the UK's Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes. As the Competent Authority for audit in the UK, we set auditing and ethical standards and monitor and enforce audit quality. FRC has awarded a contract under the Crown Commercial Services (CCS), GCloud 14 framework agreement (RM1557.14).

The Financial Reporting Council 's Enforcement Division and Legal Services Team (LST) have a requirement for Transcription Services for the provision of: •Transcription services for interviews and presentations carried out during an investigation. •Tribunal Hearings Real-Time Transcription services and Evidence Presentation services (where a hearing takes place virtually). The contract will run for a duration of 36 months with an optional 12-month extension period (option to further extend) which is aligned with the provisions of the G-Cloud 14 RM1557.14 Lot 2 Framework Agreement Terms.

Legal Services framework agreement comprising of four Lots:_ Lot 1 - Public and regulatory law (inclusive of Local audit)  Lot 2 - Information law  Lot 3 - Corporate and commercial law/general law (including litigation)  Lot 4 - Employment law 

THIS IS A CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) regulates auditors, accountants and actuaries and sets the UK's Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes. As the Competent Authority for audit in the UK, we set auditing and ethical standards and monitor and enforce audit quality. The purpose of the FRC is to serve the public interest and support UK economic growth by upholding high standards of corporate governance, corporate reporting, audit and actuarial work. The FRC was seeking a Literature review on the balance between publicly-listed and privately-held companies. The number of UK publicly-listed companies (PLCs) has fallen over the past decade. At the same time more companies are choosing to remain unlisted and financing their growth through private capital . The UK has become Europe's largest private-equity hub, and its leading venture capital market , both of which are funding privately held (non-listed) companies (PHCs). As part of its ongoing market monitoring activities, the FRC was seeking research services to deliver a review of the leading expert literature to understand the scale, trajectory and international context of these changes. As well as potential implications which might arise. This will include peer-reviewed academic research, as well as studies carried out with suitable rigour by professional bodies, industry organisations, and think tanks (grey literature). The review will draw on literature from a range of relevant disciplines including, but not limited to: law, economics, political economy, business, public administration. It should be written to inform non-academic readers about the following: • The leading analyses of evidence on theses changes, including: o The scale, trajectory, and other relevant characteristics. o Views on what might happen next. o The international context from relevant jurisdiction(s). o The causes/drivers of the change and whether they are evolving over time, including evidence on how and why commercial entities choose between different potential sources of funding. • Whether the literature provides any information relevant to understanding any potential impact on: o Our regulation, in particular the effect of shifts in sources of capital when combined with the existing policy landscape and legislative definitions which drive audit and corporate reporting requirements. o Any additional, relevant policy implications for us to consider. The review should be focused on the UK but may also draw on literature that brings insights from other jurisdictions, where clearly relevant. The markets in-scope for this research will include: • London Stock Exchange (LSE) Main Market • LSE Alternative Investment Market (AIM) • Relevant markets of the Aquis exchange • UK private-equity, venture capital, and private-credit markets We may also include other UK debt and equity markets. This will be discussed with the successful research contractor once appointed. The suggested approach for the Literature Review was: Methodology • Search strategy: databases (e.g. JSTOR, SSRN, Web of Science, Scopus), policy portals, news archives. • Literature: o Inclusion/exclusion criteria should include, but not be limited to: relevance to UK context, credibility/quality/reliability, publication date, citations (or equivalent). o Biases and perspectives to be identified, where present, but not by themselves to be critria for exclusion. • Analytical approach: thematic coding, comparative case analyses, cross-discipliniary comparison (gaps and/or contradictions), synthesis of findings.

The FRC requires, a source of financial market data. Our requirement is therefore subscription services with a database provider (with the breadth and depth of the data we require) that can provide the following content within the following data categories including but not limited to): o Financial statements and accounting standards data o Asset data o Debt data o Audit data o Ownership data o Operation and profit data

This is a Contract Award Notice for Levy Collection Services.

THIS IS A CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) requirement for Talent Solutions Subscription for recruitment purposes is being fulfilled by LinkedIn Talent Solutions platform. LinkedIn Talent Solutions platform is a tool to assist HR professionals to advertise via a professional network and actively search for passive candidates to appoint. This is an efficient and effective solution. This is a call off Contract award under Crown Commercial Services G-Cloud 14 Framework Agreement RM1557.14

This is a Contract award Notice for Stakeholder engagement support and services.

THIS IS A CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has appointed an external agency for the Provision of Design & Publication Services.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) regulates auditors, accountants and actuaries and sets the UK's Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes. As the Competent Authority for audit in the UK, we set auditing and ethical standards and monitor and enforce audit quality. The FRC undertook an experimental project to accelerate the use of XBRL structured data within a regulatory context. This project was called CODEx. The project delivered a powerful platform to use XBRL data, we have now taken that platform from its sandbox environment and embedded it within the FRC. The FRC has built an SQL database within an AZURE environment, that contains certain data that has been processed from the XBRL accounts submitted to the FCA and Companies House. This data is combined with additional data from other public sources to create a powerful platform for policy analysis. This database is currently in operation. In order for the XBRL data to be useable for our purposes it must (on a quarterly basis) be: (a)Identified and collected, (b) Processed from XBRL into appropriate data format and (c) Combined with additional data from a number of data sources. To support the project we have tendered for a vendor to support the data collection and processing with key deliverables (over a period of 12 months). This is therefore a contract Award Notice.

The purpose of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is to serve the public interest by setting high standards of corporate governance, reporting and audit and by holding to account those responsible for delivering them. We were seeking to appoint and work with Recruitment Agencies for our permanent and fixed terms recruitment (and occasional interim requirements). This is the establishment of a Framework Agreement. Those Agencies must understand our branding and values and be committed to drive high standards with our resourcing alongside being committed to diversity and inclusion. Those Agency should understand that FRC operates in the public sector and is committed to the attainment of value for money (and minimizing risk). Our supply partners should understand and share that commitment. FRC operates skills-based job family. These job families are: • Actuarial (Lot 1) • Audit & Accountancy (Lot 2) • Legal (Lot 3) • Forensic Accountants (Lot 4) • "All Jobs" (roles that fall outside the scope of the above, for example Human Resources, Information Technology and Governance). (Lot 5)

THIS IS A CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) regulates auditors, accountants and actuaries and sets the UK's Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes. As the Competent Authority for audit in the UK, we set auditing and ethical standards and monitor and enforce audit quality. The purpose of the FRC is to serve the public interest and support UK economic growth by upholding high standards of corporate governance, corporate reporting, audit and actuarial work. The FRC's Digital Reporting and Taxonomy team set the UK's digital reporting taxonomy. Our taxonomy is used by millions of companies in the UK to file annual report data to regulators and we are keen to ensure that the data is used to its fullest potential. The UK has a focus on economic growth, support for longer-term investment and a drive to maintain and enhance the UK's capital markets. A key enabler for all these goals is a data ecosystem that provides useful insights to the widest audience and at the lowest cost. To achieve this, it is critical to enable access to both the data and the tools to analyse the data. The UK is a world leader in collecting company and organisational data in structured digital form in the iXBRL (Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language) format. Of the 3.1 million accounts published annually on the Companies House register, 80% are available in iXBRL format. In addition, more than 500 issuers on regulated markets file their annual reports in iXBRL format with the FCA. The FRC was seeking a supplier to design and facilitate a Four (4) month innovation sprint, supporting the DREO initiative to: • Identify and engage relevant stakeholder groups from across the corpotate reporting, FinTech, accounting and xbrl ecosystem for the innovation sprints. • Run the innovation sprints to explore key themes and challenges related to the production and use of XBRL data from listed and non-listed company, charaties and other organisations annual accounts. And provide for the facilitation of group discussions or working groups to address, experiment with and consider technical topics and develop practical use cases based upto three regulator led challenges. • Synthesis and Report on the sprints including a final report or roadmap that brings together the insights and outputs from the engagement activities including barriers, gap analysis and use cases. • Provide programme management, stakeholder coordination, and documentation related to the sprints.